Shooting lens having vibration reducing function and camera system for same

ABSTRACT

The invention includes a vibration reduction mechanism, a vibration detecting part, a reference signal generating part, a target drive position calculating part, and a driving part. The vibration reduction mechanism reduces a vibration of a subject image. The vibration detecting part outputs a vibration detection signal. The reference signal generating part estimates a reference signal of the vibration detection part. The target drive position calculating part obtains a vibration component from a difference between the vibration detection signal and the estimated reference signal to obtain a target position to which the vibration reduction mechanism is driven. The driving part controls the vibration reduction mechanism to follow the target position. Particularly, the reference signal generating part corrects the reference signal according to a motion signal obtained from a captured image. An accurate reference signal can be obtained by the correction, thereby improving the performance of the vibration reduction.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/037,323, filed on Jan. 19, 2005, which is a Continuation-in-Part ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/893,501, filed on Jul. 19, 2004, andclaims the benefit of priority from Japanese Application Nos.2003-279688 and 2003-280097, both filed Jul. 25, 2003. The disclosure ofthe prior application is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a shooting lens for reducing avibration of an image of a subject and a camera system therefor.

2. Description of the Related Art

There has been a known technique for driving a vibration reductionmechanism to reduce a vibration of an image of a subject due to a handvibration or the like. Such a known technique includes a vibrationreduction mechanism (such as an optical vibration reduction system orthe like) and an angular speed sensor. The angular speed sensor detectsvibration of a shooting lens and of a camera. The shooting lens decides,from the angular speed, the position of the vibration reductionmechanism to eliminate the vibration of the image (hereinafter referredto as target drive position), and moves the vibration reductionmechanism to the target drive position.

In addition, the shooting lens executes a positional control over thevibration reduction mechanism, moving it back to the center position(hereinafter referred to as center bias control), by feeding back thedisplacement thereof to the control over the vibration reductionmechanism. The center bias control allows the vibration reductionmechanism to be moved back to the vicinity of the center positionthereof. As a result, it is possible to substantially expand the movingrange of the vibration reduction mechanism.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 10-322585(FIG. 1) (Reference 1) and 10-145662 (FIG. 1 and FIG. 3) (Reference 2)have disclosed an image vibration reduction technique for a videocamera. The video camera detects a motion signal from a captured image.Then, the video camera interpolates the motion signal to raise thesampling grade thereof. The video camera improves the vibrationreduction performance by feeding back the interpolated motion signal toa target drive position that is updated at high speed.

Problems of Known Technique

In the known vibration reduction control technique, a DC offset and adrift contained in an output of an angular speed sensor cause problems,because odd components such as these DC offset and drift have to beremoved in order to accurately detect the vibration of a subject image.However, these odd components vary depending on the temperature and useconditions of the angular speed sensor. Thus, the values of the DCoffset and drift measured for shipment are not usable for actualshooting. Conventionally, they are separated and extracted from anoutput of the angular speed sensor when a subject is actually shot.

A vibration of a user's hand has frequency components whose dominantfrequencies are in the range from 2 to 7 Hz. On the other hand, theangular speed sensor in a stationary state outputs frequency componentswhose dominant frequencies are less than 1 Hz. Thus, by the use of themoving average or a low-pass filter, low frequency components areextracted from an output signal of the angular speed sensor, therebyestimating the DC offset and drift in real time.

However, by this known technique, a reference signal has various errors.FIG. 12A, FIG. 12B, and FIG. 12C show a simulation result of aconventional reference signal estimation. In FIG. 12A, the movingaverage of the angular speed sensor is calculated in accordance with anoutput signal thereof to obtain a reference signal. The moving averagecauses a delay in the phase of the drift of the reference signal. Inaddition, the reference signal contains a vibration component that isnot completely smoothened by the moving average. When a reference signalcontaining an error is removed from the output signal of the angularspeed sensor, the angular speed will has an error shown in FIG. 12B.

In FIG. 12C, a thick line represents a result of a variation reductionoperation for an angular speed including an error. Although a highfrequency component of a hand vibration decreases, the vibrationreduction mechanism gradually drifts over time.

As described above, the vibration reduction performance depends on howaccurate reference signal of the angular speed sensor can be obtained.

[Problems of References 1 and 2]

In the techniques disclosed in the References 1 and 2, a motion signalis used to reduce a vibration of an image. However, the controllingsystems therein are for shooting movies. If these techniques are appliedto electronic still cameras, the following problems [1] and [2] willarise.

[1] An electronic still camera acquires a motion signal from an imagefor monitor display before a shutter release. In this case, the shootinginterval of the electronic still camera (for example, 30 frames/second)is several times longer than the shooting interval of a common videocamera (for example, 60 fields/second in the NTSC system). In otherwords, the electronic still camera has a longer sampling interval of amotion signal. Feeding back the motion signal with a long interval tothe target drive position cannot achieve sufficient vibration reductioneffect.[2] Moreover, in the technique disclosed in References 1 and 2, themotion signal is extrapolated so that the interval of the motion signalmatches with the update interval of the target drive position. On theother hand, the electronic still camera uses a motion signal with a longsampling interval. Thus, it is difficult to estimate accurateextrapolation so that discontinuous errors may occur in theextrapolation. The errors in the extrapolation results in errors in thecontrol of the target drive position. As a result, the vibrationreduction effect may conspicuously deteriorate.

In the technique disclosed in the References 1 and 2, the motion signalis fed back to the target drive position. On this point, the techniqueis clearly different from an invention by which the reference signal iscorrected with the motion signal. Moreover, in the References 1 and 2, ahigh-pass filter is disposed in a feedback path for the motion signal.The high-pass filter does not allow low frequency componentscorresponding to the drift and offset to pass therethrough.Consequently, the technique disclosed in the References 1 and 2 is notable to properly correct the drift and offset of low frequency range.

Moreover, for the electronic still camera, unlike a video camera,photographing with a long exposure (an exposure of 1/15 seconds orlonger) needs to be considered. At shooting with a long exposure, theimage vibration will arise from a low speed drifting movement. However,in the video camera the low speed drifting movement does not cause theimage vibration due to its slow shutter speed.

A very low frequency component of a drift causing the image vibrationdoes not pass through the foregoing high-pass filter. Because of this,the technique disclosed in the References 1 and 2 cannot prevent theimage vibration caused by a long-exposure shooting.

[Problem Caused by Synergy Between Motion Signal and Center Bias]

To keep the vibration reduction mechanism at its center position, it mayneed to increase the feedback gain of the center bias. In this case,strong force returning the vibration reduction mechanism to the centerposition will occur (hereinafter, this force is referred to as biaspower). A strong bias power causes deterioration in the stability of thevibration reduction control; accordingly, it may cause the vibrationreduction mechanism to oscillate at worst.

In addition, the inventors of the present invention have found that thefeedback of the motion signal to the vibration reduction mechanismcauses a problem that the vibration reduction mechanism is likely tooscillate because the stability of the vibration reduction controlremarkably deteriorates by a synergistic effect of the feedback of themotion signal and the center bias. The inventors have also found thatthe feedback of the motion signal to the vibration reduction controlcauses another problem that the vibration reduction mechanism movesunnecessarily when it stops.

[Problems in Intentional Movement of Camera]

Normally, before shooting a subject, the user needs to change theorientation of the camera to decide a composition of an image to beshot. In addition, the user may need to vibrate the camera to pan amoving subject as it moves.

When the camera is intentionally moved (hereinafter generally referredto as “panning”), since the angle of vibration is larger than thevibration of hand, the output of the angular speed sensor largelyvaries. When the output varies, it becomes difficult and inaccurate toestimate the reference signal of the angular speed sensor. As a result,the reference signal contains a large error. Accordingly, the vibrationreduction would become inaccurate.

In addition, the panning causes the shot image on the camera side tomove. As with a residual vibration of a drift output of the angularspeed sensor, the motion of the image is detected as a motion signal.When the motion signal is directly fed back to the vibration reductionsystem, the motion of the panned image would momentarily delay.Alternatively, the motion of the panned image would stop. When thepanning is preformed for a long time, the vibration reduction systemwould exceed its drive limit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of solving the forgoing problems, an object of the presentinvention is to obtain an accurate reference signal for vibrationreduction.

Another object of the present invention is to enhance the effects ofvibration reduction by selecting a portion to which a motion signal isfed back.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a vibrationreduction control system suitable for an electronic still camera.

Another object of the present invention is to properly monitor a changein a vibration reduction control and properly change a feedback of amotion signal according to the change in the vibration reductioncontrol.

Another object of the present invention is to prevent the stability of avibration reduction control from deteriorating when the power of acenter bias increases.

Another object of the present invention is to suppress unnecessarymovement of a vibration reduction mechanism upon stopping a vibrationreduction control.

Next, the present invention will be described in detail.

[1] According to an aspect of the present invention, a shooting lensforms an image of a subject on an imaging plane of a camera. Theshooting lens includes a vibration reduction mechanism, a vibrationdetecting part, a reference signal generating part, a target driveposition calculating part, and a driving part.

The vibration reduction mechanism reduces a vibration of the image ofthe subject. The vibration detecting part detects the vibration of thecamera and outputs a vibration detection signal. The reference signalgenerating part estimates a reference signal of the vibration detectionsignal (an output of the vibration detecting part while the camera is ina stationary state and free of a vibration) in accordance with thevibration detection signal. The target drive position calculating partobtains a vibration component as a cause of the image vibration from adifference between the vibration detection signal and the estimatedreference signal to obtain a target position to which the vibrationreduction mechanism is driven according to the vibration component. Thedriving part controls the vibration reduction mechanism to follow thetarget position.

In particular, the reference signal generating part acquires informationon a motion signal obtained by analyzing a captured image with thecamera and corrects the reference signal according to the motion signal.

Next, the operation and effect of the shooting lens will be described.

Generally, an error in the reference signal leads to an error in thedetection of a vibration component, causing a residual vibration of acaptured image. Thus, with the shooting lens of this invention theresidual vibration of the captured image is detected as a motion signalto correct the reference signal using this motion signal. The feedbackof the motion signal makes it possible to surely decrease the error inthe reference signal. This consequently decreases the error in thedetection of the vibration component with sureness, and further improvesthe vibration reduction accuracy.

In particular, the reference signal given a feedback has dominantfrequencies of much lower range than those at the target drive positionthat is updated with a shorter interval. Because of that, it is notlikely that feeding back thereto the motion signal with a long samplinginterval causes the overrunning of the control system so that, stableand appropriate control can be made. In other words, the referencesignal of low dominant frequencies is suitable to be given the motionsignal with a long sampling interval.

Even if the reference signal varies due to an external disturbance, themotion vector feedback can restore the varying reference signal to anormal value. As a result, a vibration reduction with very highrobustness of a reference signal against an external disturbance can beaccomplished.

[2] It is preferred that the reference signal generating part shouldfeed back the motion signal to the reference signal and correct thereference signal to contain a drift output of the vibration detectingpart. It is also preferred that the motion signal feedback should bedone without removing a low frequency component of the motion signal sothat a drift output of the low frequency range can be accuratelycontained in the reference signal. Moreover, It is preferred that thecomponent of an image of a low motion speed due to a drift output is tobe detected selectively as the motion signal.[3] It is preferred that the reference signal generating part shouldconvert a scale of the motion signal into that of the reference signalaccording to a focal distance and a magnification of the shooting lensand correct the reference signal according to the motion signal of theconverted scale.[4] It is preferred that the reference signal generating part shouldupdate the reference signal as a corrected reference signal, the targetdrive position calculating part should update the target position, and acycle in which the reference signal generating part updates thereference signal is longer than a cycle in which the target driveposition calculating part updates the target position.[5] It is preferred that the shooting lens should further include aphase compensating part which performs lead compensation for the phaseof the motion signal. The reference signal generating part corrects thereference signal in accordance with the phase-compensated motion signal.In addition, it is preferred that the lead compensation is to compensatea delay in the calculation of the motion signal.[6] Preferably, the reference signal generating part includes a feedbackpath and a gain changing part. The feedback path acquires information onthe motion signal obtained by analyzing the image shot with the cameraand feeds back the motion signal to the reference signal, to correct thereference signal. The gain changing part obtains from the camerainformation on a timing when the camera is to start a shootingpreparation for a still image. The gain changing part starts thefeedback of the feedback path after a start of the shooting preparation.Alternatively, the gain changing part increases the feedback after thestart of the shooting preparation.

Next, the operation and effect of this structure will be described.

Before a start of the shooting preparation, the user generally pans thecamera, composing an image to be shot. After the start of the shootingpreparation, on the other hand, the user often waits for a good timingto shoot (for example, timing to fully press the release button of thecamera), keeping the composition of the image.

Thus, it is highly likely that the panning to decide the composition ofthe image is completed before a start of the shooting preparation. It isvery unlikely that the panning is performed after the start of theshooting preparation. Thus, starting or increasing the feedback of themotion signal to the reference signal after the start of the shootingpreparation makes it possible to surely prevent the reference signalfrom being erroneously corrected, which occurs due to the panning todecide the composition of the image.

Consequently, it is possible to obtain more accurate reference signalsand vibration components as the difference between the vibrationdetection signal and the reference signal. Accordingly, it is possibleto improve the vibration reduction performance with reliability.

[7] Preferably, the reference signal generating part includes a feedbackpath and a gain changing part. The feedback path acquires information onthe motion signal obtained by analyzing the image shot with the cameraand feeds back the motion signal to the reference signal, to correct thereference signal. The gain changing part obtains from the camerainformation on a timing when the camera is to focus the image of thesubject. The gain changing part starts the feedback of the feedback pathafter the camera has focused image of the subject. Alternatively, thegain changing part increases the feedback after the camera has focusedthe image of the subject.

Next, the operation and effect of this structure will be described.

Generally, the user pans the camera to decide the composition of animage before shooting. However, if the user adjusts the composition tosome extent immediately after focusing a target subject, he or she oftenwaits for a good timing to shoot (for example, a timing to fully pressthe release button), trying not to change the decided composition.

Thus, it is highly likely that the panning to decide the composition ofthe image is made until or immediately after the subject is into focus.It is very unlikely that the panning is made some time after the subjectis into focus. Consequently, after the subject is into focus (preferablyan estimated time for adjusting the composition of the image has elapsedimmediately after the focusing), the feedback of the motion signal tothe reference signal is started or increased. This can accordinglyprevent the reference signal from being erroneously corrected due to thepanning for deciding the composition of the image to be shot.

In addition, an image that is shot in a non-focused state has blur inits edges. Therefore, accurate motion signals cannot be obtained whilethe subject is not into focus, so that it is likely that the referencesignal is erroneously corrected. With this structure, however, startingcorrecting the reference signal after the subject is focused can preventtroubles from occurring such as erroneous correction of the referencesignal.

Because of this, it is possible to obtain accurate reference signals andvibration components as the difference between the vibration detectionsignal and the reference signal. This results in improving the vibrationreduction performance with reliability.

[8] Preferably, the reference signal generating part includes a feedbackpath and a gain changing part. The feedback path acquires information onthe motion signal obtained by analyzing the image shot with the cameraand feeds back the motion signal to the reference signal, to correct thereference signal. The gain changing part detects panning of the cameraaccording to the vibration detection signal and/or the motion signal.The gain changing part starts the feedback of the feedback path afterthe panning has been completed. Alternatively, the gain changing partincreases the feedback after the panning has been completed.

Next, the operation and effect of this structure will be described.

Before shooting a subject, the user pans the camera, composing an imageto be shot. However, after deciding the composition, the user oftenwaits for a good timing to shoot (for example, timing to fully press therelease button), trying not to move the camera. When the userintentionally pans the camera, the camera will be moved continuously ina certain direction. The movements by the user's intentional panning areobviously different from hand vibrations, which are random vibrations.Consequently, the intentional panning movement can be distinguished fromthe hand vibration by detecting the characteristics of the panning fromthe vibration detection signal and/or the motion signal.

Thus, after detection of a completion of the panning, the feedback ofthe motion signal to the reference signal is started or increased. As aresult, it is possible to surely reduce such troubles that the referencesignal is erroneously corrected due to the panning for deciding thecomposition of the image. Accordingly, it is possible to obtain accuratereference signals and vibration components as the difference between thevibration detection signal and the reference signal. This results inimproving the vibration reduction performance with reliability.

[9] More preferably, the reference signal generating part includes afeedback path and a gain changing part. The feedback path acquiresinformation on the motion signal obtained by analyzing the image shotwith the camera and feeds back the motion signal to the referencesignal, to correct the reference signal. The gain changing part obtainsfrom the camera information on a timing when it is to start a shootingpreparation for a still picture. In addition, the gain changing partdetects panning of the camera from the vibration detection signal and/orthe motion signal. When detecting the panning after the start of ashooting preparation, the gain changing part stops the feedback of thefeedback path, or alternatively decreases the feedback.

Next, the operation and effect of this structure will be described.

After the camera starts the shooting preparation (for example, therelease button is half pressed), the user does not move the cameraunless some situation comes up and forces him/her to do so. If panningis detected after the start of the shooting preparation, the camera maybe under a special situation such that the user is panning the camera toshoot a moving subject or that the user is waiting for a proper releasetiming, moving the camera following the moving subject whilehalf-pressing the release button.

Thus, in such situations, stopping (or temporarily stopping) ordecreasing the feedback of the motion signal to the reference signal cansurely reduce the possibility that the reference signal is erroneouslycorrected by the panning. As a result, it is possible to obtain moreaccurate reference signals and vibration components as the differencebetween the vibration detection signal and the reference signal. Thisresults in surely improving the vibration reduction performance.

[10] According to another aspect of the present invention, a shootinglens forms an image of a subject on an imaging plane of a camera andincludes a vibration reduction mechanism, a vibration detecting part, aninformation obtaining part, a controlling part, and a center bias part.The vibration reduction mechanism reduces a vibration of the image ofthe subject. The vibration detecting part detects the vibration of thecamera and outputs a vibration detection signal. The informationobtaining part analyzes an image shot with the camera and acquiresinformation on the motion signal. The controlling part controls thevibration reduction mechanism to perform a feedforward operation usingthe vibration detection signal and to perform a feedback operation usingthe motion signal, thereby reducing the vibration of the image. Thecenter bias part biases the vibration reduction mechanism to a centerposition by feeding back displacement of the vibration reductionmechanism from the center position to the control over the vibrationreduction mechanism. In particular, the controlling part decreases afeedback gain of the motion signal as a feedback gain of the center biaspart increases, and in contrast it increases the feedback gain of themotion signal as the feedback gain of the center bias part decreases.Note that the configuration described in [10] is essential to maintain astable control upon the feedback of the motion signal; therefore, itwill be described in detail in the following.

Generally, the power biasing the vibration reduction mechanism to thecenter position increases as the feedback gain of the center bias partincreases. The biasing power deteriorates the performance of thevibration reduction mechanism and increases the motion speed of acaptured image. As a result, the value of the motion signal isincreased. The center bias and the feedback amount of the motion signalsynergistically increase, which deteriorates the stability of thevibration reduction control. This causes some problems such as theoverrun of the vibration reduction mechanism, large vibration, andoscillation thereof.

In view of solving the problems, the shooting lens according to [10] isconfigured that the feedback grain of the motion signal decreases as thefeedback gain of the center bias part increases. Such a feedbackbalancing operation can prevent an excessive increase of the feedbackamount, thereby enhancing the stability of the vibration reduction.Accordingly, it is able to properly prevent the vibration reductionmechanism from overshooting, vibrating, and oscillating at worst.

The motion signal is a signal from which a residual vibration of animage has been detected. Thus, the decrease in the feedback gain of themotion signal means deterioration in the suppression of the residualvibration in the vibration reduction control. However, it also meansthat returning the vibration reduction mechanism to its center position(or holding at the center position) is given a higher priority than thesuppression of the residual vibration. Thus, the decrease in thefeedback gain of the motion signal does not cause much trouble, and doesincrease the stability of the vibration reduction control; therefore, itcan be said that its advantage overcomes its disadvantage.

Moreover, in the shooting lens according to [10], the feedback gain ofthe motion signal increases as the feedback gain of the center bias partdecreases. Such a feedback balancing operation makes it possible toimprove the suppression of a residual vibration of an image withoutdeteriorating the stability of the control.

[11] It is preferred that the shooting lens should further include asensor. The sensor senses (includes obtaining information from thecamera) information on at least one of states of the camera which are astate that the camera is fixed by a tripod and a state that thevibration reduction mechanism has moved to its limit. The center biaspart increases the feedback gain of the center bias part in accordancewith the sensed information. On the other hand, the controlling partdecreases the feedback gain of the motion signal in accordance with thesensed information.[12] According to another aspect of the present invention, a shootinglens forms an image of a subject on an imaging plane of a camera, andincludes a vibration reduction mechanism, a vibration detecting part, aninformation obtaining part, and a controlling part. The vibrationreduction mechanism reduces a vibration of the image of the subject. Thevibration detecting part detects the vibration of the camera and outputsa vibration detection signal. The information obtaining part analyzes animage captured with the camera and acquires information on the motionsignal. The controlling part controls the vibration reduction mechanismto perform a feedforward operation using the vibration detection signal,and to perform a feedback operation using the motion signal, therebyreducing the vibration of the image. In particular, for stopping thevibration reduction operation of the vibration reduction mechanism, thecontrolling part instructs the vibration reduction mechanism to stopfeeding back the motion signal before stopping the feedforwardoperation.

The configuration in [12] is essential to prevent unnecessary movementof the vibration reduction mechanism when feeding back the motion signalto the vibration reduction control, and will be described in detail inthe following.

In the shooting lens according to [12], for stop the vibration reductionoperation, the vibration reduction mechanism stops the feedforwardoperation prior to the feedback operation. This can prevent thecontinuance of the feedback of the motion signal and unnecessarymovement of the vibration reduction mechanism.

[13] It is preferred that the shooting lens should further include asensor. The sensor senses information on at least one of states of thecamera that are a state that the camera is fixed by a tripod and a statethat the camera is panning, and a state that the vibration reductionmechanism has moved to its limit. The controlling part stops thefeedback of the motion signal according to the sensed information andthen stops the feedforward control.[14] It is preferred that the controlling part includes a referencesignal estimating part, a reference signal correcting part, a targetdrive position calculating part, and a driving part. The referencesignal estimating part estimates a reference signal of the vibrationdetection signal (an output of the vibration detecting part while thecamera is in a stationary state and free of a vibration) in accordancewith the vibration detection signal. The reference signal correctingpart corrects the reference signal by feeding back the motion signal tothe reference signal estimated by the reference signal estimating part.The target drive position calculating part obtains a vibration componentas a cause of the vibration of the image from a difference between thevibration detection signal and the corrected reference signal to obtaina target position to which the vibration reduction mechanism is driven,according to the vibration component, thereby reducing the vibration ofthe image. The target position refers to a position at which thevibration reduction mechanism can reduce the image vibration. Thedriving part controls the vibration reduction mechanism to follow thetarget position.[15] The camera system of the present invention includes a shootinglens, an imaging part, and a motion detecting part. The shooting lens isone as set forth in any one of [1] to [11]. The imaging part capturesthe image of the subject formed on the imaging plane by the shootinglens. The motion detecting part obtains an image captured with theimaging part, detects variation in the captured image with time, andoutputs motion of the subject image on the imaging plane as a motionsignal. In addition, it is preferred that the shooting lens and theimaging part should be detachably structured to exchange information onthe motion signal and so forth therebetween.

As described above, the present invention enables more practicalfeedback of the motion signal to the vibration reduction. As a result,it is possible to further enhance the vibration reduction technique.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The nature, principle, and utility of the invention will become moreapparent from the following detailed description when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts aredesignated by identical reference numbers, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a camera system 190 having avibration reduction mechanism (including a shooting lens 190 a);

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing timing of a vibration reductionoperation.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a motion vector calculation process;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an operation of a vibration reductioncontrol;

FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, and FIG. 5C are schematic diagrams showing asimulation result of a vibration reduction control according to a firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a graph describing a criterion of a vibration reductionperformance according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing a motion vector calculation process(including a lead compensation of the motion vector);

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing the camera system 290 (includingthe shooting lens 290 a);

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a principal structure of a vibrationreduction control system;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing a vibration reduction control operation.

FIG. 11 is a graph showing a gain characteristic and a phasecharacteristic of a transfer function Gc(S);

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing a simulation result of aconventional vibration reduction control;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a camera system 390 (including ashooting lens 390 a);

FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing optical vibration reduction according toa third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing optical vibration reduction according toa fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a flow chart showing optical vibration reduction according toa fifth embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 17 is a flow chart showing optical vibration reduction according toa sixth embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Next, with reference to the accompanying drawings, embodiments of thepresent invention will be described in detail.

First Embodiment Description of Structure of First Embodiment

FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a camera system 190 (includinga shooting lens 190 a) according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention. In reality, the camera system 190 reduces a vibration of animage in two axis directions, horizontal and vertical directions.However, for simplicity, in FIG. 1, a vibration reduction mechanism forone axis is shown.

Next, the structure of each part shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

An angular speed sensor 10 detects a vibration of the camera system 190as an angular speed using Coriolis force. An amplifying part 20amplifies an output of the angular speed sensor 10. In addition, alow-pass filter may be disposed to reduce a high frequency noise in thesensor output. An A/D converting part 30 converts an output of theamplifying part 20 into digital angular speed data.

A reference signal calculating part 40 extracts a low frequencycomponent from the angular speed data that is output from the A/Dconverting part 30 so as to estimate a reference signal of the angularspeed (angular speed data in a stationary state and free of avibration). The reference signal calculating part 40 corrects thereference signal using feedback of a motion vector that will bedescribed later.

A target drive position calculating part 50 subtracts the referencesignal from the angular speed data so as to obtain an actual angularspeed as a cause of a vibration of an image. The target drive positioncalculating part 50 integrates the actual angular speed so as to obtainan angle from the optical axis of the shooting lens 190 a. The targetdrive position calculating part 50 decides a target drive position inaccordance with the angle from the optical axis. The target driveposition is a position in which an optical vibration reduction system100 can cancel the displacement of an image of a subject at the anglefrom the optical axis.

The target drive position calculating part 50 decides the target driveposition in accordance with focal distance information 120, shootingmagnification information 130, and optical information 140 on theoptical vibration reduction system 100. The focal distance information120 is frequently obtained from an output of an encoder of a zoom ringof the shooting lens 190 a and so forth. The shooting magnificationinformation 130 is frequently obtained in accordance with a position ofthe shooting lens 190 a and from an AF driving mechanism. The opticalinformation 140 on the optical vibration reduction system 100 refers toa vibration reduction coefficient (vibration reduction coefficient=imagemoving amount against lens moving amount/lens moving amount). Theoptical information 140 is pre-stored in the shooting lens 190 a.

In addition, the shooting lens 190 a has a positional sensor 90. Thepositional sensor 90 senses the position of the optical vibrationreduction system 100. The positional sensor 90 has an infrared ray LED92, a position sensitive detector (PSD) 98, and a slit plate 94. Lightemitted from the infrared ray LED 92 passes through a slit hole 96 ofthe slit plate 94 disposed in a lens barrel 102 of the optical vibrationreduction system 100. As a result, a small beam is obtained. The smallbeam reaches the PSD 98. The PSD 98 outputs a signal that represents thereceived position of the small beam. The output signal is converted intoa digital signal through an A/D converting part 110, thereby obtainingpositional data on the optical vibration reduction system 100.

A drive signal calculating part 60 obtains a deviation between thepositional data and the target drive position and calculates a drivesignal corresponding to the deviation. For example, the drive signal iscalculated by PID control algorithm in which a proportional term, anintegration term, and a differentiation term are added at predeterminedratios.

A driver 70 supplies a drive current to a driving mechanism 80 accordingto the obtained drive signal (digital signal).

The driving mechanism 80 is composed of a yoke 82, a magnet 84, and acoil 86. The coil 86 is secured to the lens barrel 102 of the opticalvibration reduction system 100. The coil 86 is disposed in a magneticcircuit formed by the yoke 82 and the magnet 84. When a drive current ofthe driver 70 is supplied to the coil 86, the optical vibrationreduction system 100 can be moved in the direction perpendicular to theoptical axis.

The optical vibration reduction system 100 is a part of an opticalimaging system of the shooting lens 190 a. Moving the optical vibrationreduction system 100 to the target drive position and shifting the focalposition of the image of the subject makes it possible to opticallyreduce the vibration of the image of the subject against an imagingplane.

An image sensor 150 captures an image of a subject that is formed on theimaging plane. A captured image is displayed on a monitor screen (notshown). The captured image is also output to a motion vector detectingpart 160.

The motion vector detecting part 160 detects the motion of the capturedimage over time so as to detect a motion vector containing a residualvibration. A motion vector converting part 170 converts a scale of themotion vector into a scale of a reference signal in accordance with thefocal distance information 120 and the shooting magnificationinformation 130. The converted motion vector is used to correct thereference signal by the reference signal calculating part 40.

[Relation Between the Claims and the First Embodiment]

Next, the relation between the terminology used in claims and theterminology used in the first embodiment will be described. It should benoted that the relation represents only an example, but does not limitthe present invention.

A shooting lens as set forth in claims corresponds to the shooting lens190 a.

A vibration reduction mechanism as set forth in claims corresponds tothe optical vibration reduction system 100.

A vibration detecting part as set forth in claims corresponds to theangular speed sensor 10.

A reference signal generating part as set forth in claims corresponds tothe reference signal calculating part 40 and the motion vectorconverting part 170.

A target drive position calculating part as set forth in claimscorresponds to the target drive position calculating part 50.

A driving part as set forth in claims corresponds to the drive signalcalculating part 60, the driver 70, the driving mechanism 80, and thepositional sensor 90.

A camera system as set forth in claims corresponds to the camera system190.

A motion signal as set forth in claims corresponds to a component in anangular speed direction of a motion vector.

[Description of Operation of First Embodiment]

FIG. 2 illustrates timing of a vibration reduction operation.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a motion vector calculation process.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an operation of a vibration reductioncontrol.

Next, with reference to these drawings, an operation of the firstembodiment will be described.

First of all, as shown in FIG. 2, the image sensor 150 periodicallyoutputs a captured image at a predetermined shooting interval Timg. Amotion vector calculation processing (shown in FIG. 3) is executed atthe shooting interval Timg. Next, the motion vector calculation processwill be described.

Step S1: The image sensor 150 thins out lines of an image so as to reada captured image at high speed (30 frames/second) for a monitor display.Step S2: The motion vector detecting part 160 obtains a motion vector ofthe image in accordance with the difference in frames of the capturedimage. For detecting a motion vector, a known method such astempo-spatial gradient method or block matching method can be used.

A motion vector of an entire captured image may be obtained oralternatively, a motion vector of a partial area of a captured image maybe obtained. In addition, a motion vector may be obtained in each ofaxis directions (for example, vertical direction and horizontaldirection) of a vibration. In this case, a motion vector having elementsas image motion in the individual axial directions (displacement betweenframes) can be obtained.

The direction and amount of the displacement of a captured image may beobtained as a motion vector by detecting the displacement between framesof the captured image in each of a plurality of directions.

Step S3: The motion vector converting part 170 obtains the focaldistance information 120 of the shooting lens 190 a.Step S4: The motion vector converting part 170 obtains the shootingmagnification information 130 of the shooting lens 190 a.Step S5: A motion vector output from the motion vector detecting part160 represents information on displacement between frames of a capturedimage. Thus, the motion vector converting part 170 converts the scale ofthe motion vector into a scale of an angular speed the same as that of areference signal. For example, the following conversion formula is used.

$\begin{matrix}{V^{\prime} = {{{G \cdot \tan^{- 1}}\frac{V}{{f\left( {1 + \beta} \right)}^{2}}} \cong {G \cdot \frac{V}{{f\left( {1 + \beta} \right)}^{2}}}}} & (1)\end{matrix}$

where V represents a motion vector that has not been converted; V′represents a motion vector that has been converted; f represents a focaldistance; β represents a shooting magnification; and G represents aconstant.Step S6: The motion vector converting part 170 updates a motion vectorstored for correcting a reference signal to the latest value V′ obtainedat step s5.

The motion vector calculation process is completed, delaying from at thetime of shooting as shown in FIG. 2 by the calculation time Tcal.

Next, with reference to FIG. 4, a vibration reduction control operationwill be described.

Step S11: The A/D converting part 30 A/D converts an angular speedoutput of the angular speed sensor 10 at a sampling interval Topt.Step S12: The reference signal calculating part 40 performs a movingaverage processing and a low-pass filter processing on the digitalangular speed data so as to estimate a reference signal of the angularspeed data.Step S13: The reference signal calculating part 40 acquires informationon the motion vector V′ updated at step S6 from the motion vectorconverting part 170 and corrects the motion vector V′ according to thefollowing formula:

Wo′=Wo−Q·v′  (2)

where Q represents a feedback gain of a motion vector; v′ represents acomponent in the angular speed direction of the motion vector V′(converted into a scale of an angular speed). The value Q is decided inview of making the reference signal Wo′ not excessive and shortening thetime taken for setting the value.

Generally, an error in the reference signal Wo′ results in a residualvibration of a captured image in the vibration reduction. The residualvibration is detected as a motion vector V′. The detected motion vectorV′ is fed back to the reference signal according to the formula (2),thereby decreasing the error in the reference signal Wo′.

As the error in the reference signal Wo′ decreases, the motion vector V′gradually decreases. When the motion vector V′ is reduced to almostzero, the reference signal Wo′ will be an accurate value that contains adrift output and a DC offset of the angular speed sensor 10.

In the vibration reduction operation as shown in FIG. 2, the targetdrive position and the reference signal are updated at a samplinginterval Topt shorter than the shooting interval Timg for the purpose ofimproving the performance of the optical vibration reduction system 100to follow the target position. Thus, a new motion vector is notavailable every time the reference signal is corrected. Consequently,one motion vector V′ is repeatedly used to correct the reference signaluntil a new motion vector is obtained.

Step S14: The target drive position calculating part 50 subtracts thecorrected reference signal Wo′ from angular speed data that is outputfrom the A/D converting part 30 so as to obtain actual angular speeddata as a cause of a vibration of an image.Step S15: The target drive position calculating part 50 integrates theactual angular speed data so as to obtain a displacement amount of theangle against the optical axis of the shooting lens 190 a. The targetdrive position calculating part 50 obtains a position in which theoptical vibration reduction system 100 cancels the displacement of thefocal position of the image of the subject according to the value of theangle from the optical axis (this position of the optical vibrationreduction system 100 is referred to as target drive position).

The target drive position θ(T_(k)) is calculated according to thefollowing formulas:

C=f·(1+β)² /K  (3)

θ(T _(k))=θ(T _(k-1))+C·[W(T _(k))−Wo′]  (4)

where f represents a focal distance; β represents a shootingmagnification; θ(T_(k-1)) represents a preceding target drive position;W(T_(k)) represents latest angular speed data; and K represents avibration reduction coefficient. The vibration reduction coefficient Kis pre-measured according to the following formula:

K=(displacement of image of subject)/(displacement of optical vibrationreduction system 100).

Step S16: The drive signal calculating part 60 acquires information onthe target drive position from the target drive position calculatingpart 50 so as to control the optical vibration reduction system 100 tofollow the target drive position.[Effect and so forth of First Embodiment]

FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, and FIG. 5C are schematic diagrams showing asimulation result of a vibration reduction operation according to thefirst embodiment.

When a motion vector is fed back to a reference signal shown in FIG. 5A,the reference signal accurately contains a DC offset and a drift outputof the angular speed sensor 10. Specially, unlike with the conventionalmoving average method, a phase delay of the drift output can beaccurately corrected.

In particular, a reference signal is a low frequency signal; therefore,it can be properly and stably corrected even by a motion signal with along sampling interval. Even if a reference signal varies due to anexternal disturbance, feeding back a motion vector to the referencesignal enables the reference value to be restored to a normal value.Thus, the robustness of a reference signal against an externaldisturbance is very high.

As a result, an error in a reference signal shown in FIG. 5B (an errorin actual real angular speed data) is smaller than an error in asimulation result of a related art reference shown in FIG. 5B. Theaccuracy of a reference signal is improved so that a high vibrationreduction effect as shown in FIG. 5C is obtainable. In addition, owingto a long update interval of the motion vector, the load of the systemto calculate the motion vector is very low.

FIG. 6 illustrates a criterion of a vibration reduction performanceaccording to the first embodiment. In the prior art (curves B and Cshown in FIG. 6), the optical vibration reduction system 100 drifts astime elapses so that it is difficult to reduce the image vibrationamount. In contrast, according to the first embodiment (curves D and Eshown in FIG. 6), the drifting amount of the optical vibration reductionsystem 100 is small, so that it is able to reduce the image vibrationamount during the exposure.

[Supplementary Description of First Embodiment]

In the first embodiment, lead compensation may be made on the phase of amotion vector at step S21 shown in FIG. 7. For example, thephase-compensated motion vector Vnow′ is obtainable according to thefollowing formula:

Vnow′=Vnow+S·[Vnow−Vpre]  (5)

where Vnow represents a latest motion vector; Vpre represents apreceding motion vector; and S represents a constant.

By adjusting the constant S, a motion vector can be phase-compensated bythe calculation time Tal shown in FIG. 2. In this case, the loss of thecalculation time Tcal can be phase-compensated, resulting in furtherimproving the correction accuracy of a reference signal.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.

Second Embodiment Description of Structure of Second Embodiment

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a camera system 290 (including ashooting lens 290 a) according to a second embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a principal structure of avibration reduction control system.

Next, with reference to FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, the structure of each part ofthe camera system 290 will be described. For simplicity, description ofstructural parts that are in common with the first embodiment (FIG. 1)will be omitted.

First of all, a target drive position calculating part 50 (in detail, apart denoted by reference numeral 50 a in FIG. 8) subtracts a referencesignal from angular speed data so as to obtain an actual angular speedas a cause of a vibration of an image.

The target drive position calculating part 50 (in detail, a part denotedby reference numeral 50 b in FIG. 8) converts the actual angular speedinto a scale of the moving amount of a optical vibration reductionsystem 100. The scale conversion is performed in accordance with focaldistance information 120, shooting magnification information 130, andoptical information 140 on the optical vibration reduction system 100.

In addition, the target drive position calculating part 50 (in detail, apart denoted by reference numerals 50 c and 50 d shown in FIG. 8)subtracts a value of which center displacement Lr of the opticalvibration reduction system 100 is multiplied by a gain Kc from the scaleconverted angular speed. The optical vibration reduction system 100 isbiased to the center by this operation.

The target drive position calculating part 50 (in detail, a part denotedby reference numeral 50 e shown in FIG. 8) integrates the angular speedthat has been center-biased so as to obtain a target drive position. Thetarget drive position is a position at which the optical vibrationreduction system 100 cancels a vibration of an image of a subject.

In addition, the shooting lens 290 a is provided with a micro processingunit (MPU) that functions as a system controlling part 200. The systemcontrolling part 200 is connected to a tripod determining part 210, apanning determining part 220, and a movement limit determining part 230.

The tripod determining part 210 determines whether or not the camerasystem 290 has been fixed by a tripod from an output of an angular speedsensor 10, an output of a sensor switch disposed at a tripod fixedposition of the camera system 290, and so forth. The panning determiningpart 220 determines whether or not the camera system 290 is panning froman output of the angular speed sensor 10, a motion vector, and so forth.On the other hand, the movement limit determining part 230 determineswhether or not the optical vibration reduction system 100 has moved toabout its limit from an output of a positional sensor 90.

Next, the relation between the terminology used in claims and theterminology used in the second embodiment will be described. It shouldbe noted that the relation represents only an example and does not limitthe present invention.

A shooting lens as set forth in claims corresponds to the shooting lens290 a.

A vibration reduction mechanism as set forth in claims corresponds tothe optical vibration reduction system 100.

A vibration detecting part as set forth in claims corresponds to theangular speed sensor 10.

An information obtaining part as set forth in claims corresponds to themotion vector converting part 170.

A controlling part as set forth in claims corresponds to a referencesignal calculating part 40, a target drive position calculating part 50,a drive signal calculating part 60, a driver 70, a driving mechanism 80,the positional sensor 90, and the system controlling part 200.

A center bias part as set forth in claims corresponds to a function ofthe target drive position calculating part 50 for feeding backdisplacement Lr of the optical vibration reduction system 100 from thecenter thereto.

A sensor as set forth in claims corresponds to the tripod determiningpart 210, the panning determining part 220, and the movement limitdetermining part 230.

A reference signal estimating part as set forth in claims corresponds toa function for extracting a low frequency component of angular speeddata so as to estimate a reference signal.

A reference signal correcting part as set forth in claims corresponds toa function for feeding back a motion vector to the reference signal.

A target drive position calculating part as set forth in claimscorresponds to the target drive position calculating part 50.

A driving part as set forth in claims corresponds to the drive signalcalculating part 60, the driver 70, the driving mechanism 80, and thepositional sensor 90.

A camera system as set forth in claims corresponds to the camera system290.

An image pickup part as set forth in claims corresponds to an imagesensor 150.

A motion detecting part as set forth in claims corresponds to the motionvector detecting part 160.

A motion signal as set forth in claim s corresponds to a component in anangular speed direction of a motion vector.

A vibration detection signal as set forth in claims corresponds to anangular speed detected by the angular speed sensor 10.

[Description of Operation of Second Embodiment]

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing an operation of a vibration reductioncontrol.

Next, with reference to FIG. 10, the operation of the vibrationreduction control will be described.

Step S41: The A/D converting part 30 A/D converts an angular speedoutput of the angular speed sensor 10 at an update interval of a targetdrive position.Step S42: When the panning determining part 220 has determined that thecamera system 290 is panning, the system controlling part 200 causes theflow to advance to step S54. In contrast, when the panning determiningpart 220 has determined that the camera system 290 is not panning, thesystem controlling part 200 causes the flow to advance to step S43.Step S43: When the tripod determining part 210 has determined that thecamera system 290 is fixed by a tripod, the system controlling part 200causes the flow to advance to step S46. In contrast, when the tripoddetermining part 210 has determined that the camera system 290 is notfixed by the tripod, the system controlling part 200 causes the flow toadvance to step S44.Step S44: When the movement limit determining part 230 has determinedthat the optical vibration reduction system 100 has moved to the limit,the system controlling part 200 causes the flow to advance to step S46.In contrast, when the movement limit determining part 230 has determinedthat the optical vibration reduction system 100 has not moved to thelimit, the system controlling part 200 causes the flow to advance tostep S45.Step S45: Here, the camera system 290 is in a hand-held shooting state,therefore, the optical vibration reduction system 100 is movable. Inthis case, the system controlling part 200 sets a feedback gain Km of amotion vector to a large value (for example, Km=1). Thereafter, thesystem controlling part 200 sets a feedback gain Kc of a center bias toa small value (for example, kc=1 [deg/s/mm]). Thereafter, the systemcontrolling part 200 causes the flow to advance to step S47.Step S46: The camera system 290 is fixed by a tripod, or the opticalvibration reduction system 100 has moved to about the limit. In thiscase, the system controlling part 200 sets the feedback gain Km of themotion vector to a small value (for example, Km=0.5). Thereafter, theamplifying part 20 sets the feedback gain Kc of the center bias to alarge value (for example, Kc=10 [deg/s/mm]). Thereafter, the systemcontrolling part 200 causes the flow to advance to step S47.Step S47: The reference signal calculating part 40 performs a movingaverage processing and a low-pass filter processing on A/D convertedangular speed data so as to estimate a reference signal Wo of theangular speed data.Step S48: The reference signal calculating part 40 acquires informationon a motion vector V′ from the motion vector converting part 170 andcorrects the reference signal Wo according to the following formula. Themotion vector V′ is the same as the motion vector V′ obtained in thefirst embodiment (at step S6 shown in FIG. 3).

Wo′=Wo−Km·v′  (10)

where v′ represents a component in an angular speed direction of themotion vector V′.

Generally, an error in the reference signal Wo′ leads to a residualvibration in a captured image in the vibration reduction operation. Theresidual vibration is detected as the motion vector V′. Feeding back themotion vector V′ to the reference signal according to the foregoingformula (10) makes it possible to decrease the error in the referencesignal Wo′.

As the error in the reference signal Wo′ decreases, the residualvibration of the motion vector V′ decreases. When the motion vector V′is reduced to almost zero, the reference signal Wo′ will be an accuratevalue that contains a drift output and a DC offset of the angular speedsensor 10.

In the vibration reduction, the target drive position and the referenceposition are updated at a sampling interval shorter than an updateinterval of the motion vector so as to improve the performance of theoptical vibration reduction system 100 to follow the target position.Thus, a new motion vector is not available every time the referencesignal is corrected. Consequently, until a new motion vector isobtained, the current motion vector V′ is repeatedly used for correctionof the reference signal.

Step S49: The target drive position calculating part 50 subtracts thecorrected reference signal Wo′ from the angular speed data that isoutput from the A/D converting part 30 so as to obtain actual angularspeed data as a cause of a vibration of an image.Step S50: The target drive position calculating part 50 converts thescale of the actual angular speed data according to the followingformulas:

C=f·(1+β)² /K  (11)

W ₁(T _(k))=C·[W(T _(k))−Wo′]  (12)

where f represents a focal distance; β represents a shootingmagnification; W(T_(k)) represents angular speed data; W1(T_(k))represents angular speed data of the converted scale; and K represents avibration reduction coefficient. The vibration reduction coefficient Kis pre-measured according to the following formula:

K=(displacement of image of subject)/(displacement of optical vibrationreduction system 100).

Step S51: The target drive position calculating part 50 feeds backcenter displacement Lr of the optical vibration reduction system 100 tothe angular speed data W1(T_(k)) of the converted scale according to thefollowing formula. This processing causes a bias power (a kind of acenter bias) to occur in the optical vibration reduction system 100. Thebias power biases the optical vibration reduction system 100 to itscenter position.

W ₂(T _(k))=W ₁(T _(k))−Kc·Lr  (13)

where Kc represents a feedback gain of the center bias.Step S52: The target drive position calculating part 50 integrates theangular speed data W₂(T_(k)) of the optical vibration reduction system100 that has been center-biased according to the following formula so asto obtain a target drive position θ(T_(k)):

θ(T _(k))=θ(T _(k−1))+Ct·W ₂(T _(k))  (14)

where θ(T_(k-1)) represents a preceding target drive position; and Ctrepresents a constant for an integration interval (T_(k)−T_(k-1)).

The target drive position θ(T_(k)) represents a position in which theoptical vibration reduction system 100 properly cancels a vibration ofan image of a subject.

Step S53: The drive signal calculating part 60 acquires information onthe target drive position θ(T_(k)) from the target drive positioncalculating part 50 so as to control the optical vibration reductionsystem 100 to follow the target drive position θ(T_(k)). These steps arecyclically repeated so as to reduce the vibration of the image.Step S54: The camera system 290 is panning. In this case, it ispreferred that the vibration reduction operation in the panningdirection should be stopped so that it does not disturb user's panningoperation. Thus, the system controlling part 200 stops the vibrationreduction operation in the panning direction in the following order:(1) Sets the feedback gain Km of the motion vector to zero; and(2) causes the reference signal calculating part 40 to output theangular speed data as the reference signal and stops a feedforwardcontrol with the angular speed data.

Such an operation causes the angular speed data W1(T_(k)) of theforegoing formula (12) to be cancelled. As a result, the opticalvibration reduction system 100 is only center-biased. Consequently, theoptical vibration reduction system 100 is moved to almost its centerposition so as not to disturb the user's panning.

[Effect and so Forth of Second Embodiment]

Next, an effect of the second embodiment will be described withreference to a main structure of the controlling system shown in FIG. 9.

A block 300 shown in FIG. 9 is a feedback system that center biases theoptical vibration reduction system 100. A transfer function Gc(s) of theblock 300 is given by the following formula assuming that a transfercharacteristic of the driving system of the optical vibration reductionsystem 100 is almost “1”.

Gc(S)≈1/(S+Kc)  (7)

In other words, the block 300 is a transfer element of a first orderlag. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a gain characteristic and aphase characteristic of the transfer function Gc(S).

A block 400 shown in FIG. 9 is a feedback system for the motion vectorV′. The block 400 is a large system that contains the block 300 thatcenter biases the optical vibration reduction system 100 as a forwardtransfer element. Thus, a characteristic of an open loop transferfunction of the large block 400 can be adjusted by the foregoingtransfer function Gc(S).

According to the second embodiment, for adjusting the characteristic thefollowing balance adjustment is performed.

(1) While the Camera System 290 is in a Hand-Held Shooting State and theOptical Vibration Reduction System 100 is Movable.

According to the second embodiment, while the camera system 290 is in ahand-held shooting state and the optical vibration reduction system 100is movable, the feedback gain Kc is decreased (step S45).

As shown in FIG. 11, the low pass gain of the open loop transferfunction of the block 300 increases by decreasing the feedback gain Kcof the block 300. In this case, the amount of a low frequency componentof the angular speed that passes though the block 300 increases,resulting in suppressing a vibration of an image of a lower frequencycomponent.

However, in this state, a larger drift amount of a low frequencycomponent of the angular speed sensor 10 passes through the block 300.As a result, the drift results in increasing the influence of theexternal disturbance. This will cause a trouble that the opticalvibration reduction system 100 unnecessarily moves.

Thus, according to the second embodiment, at step S45, the feedback gainKm of the motion vector is increased before the feedback gain Kc isdecreased. A drift of a low frequency component of the angular speedsensor 10 results in a residual vibration of a captured image. Theresidual vibration can be detected as a motion vector. Increasing thefeedback gain Km of the motion vector makes it possible to improve thecorrection accuracy of the reference signal and to decrease the amountof a low frequency component as a drift.

Accordingly, it is able to prevent the drift due to a decrease of thefeedback gain Kc from increasing and prevent the vibration reductionperformance from deteriorating against the external disturbance.

(2) When the Camera System 290 is Fixed by a Tripod or the OpticalVibration Reduction System 100 has Moved to its Limit.

According to the second embodiment, when the camera system 290 is fixedby a tripod or the optical vibration reduction system 100 has moved toits limit, the feedback gain Kc of the center bias is increased (at stepS46).

As a result, a center bias power strongly acts on the optical vibrationreduction system 100. Consequently, the optical vibration reductionsystem 100 can be quickly returned from the limit position to its centerposition.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 11, as the gain Kc increases, the amountof a low frequency component that passes through the block 300decreases. As a result, it is possible to sufficiently suppressunintentional movement of the optical vibration reduction system 100 dueto a drift.

On the other hand, since the feedback gain Kc is increased, a phasemargin of a vibration reduction operation decreases. In addition, thecenter bias power strongly acts on the optical vibration reductionsystem 100 so that a captured image moves fast, which likely causes alarge motion vector with a phase delay. Because of this the stability ofthe vibration reduction control deteriorates. As a result, the opticalvibration reduction system 100 is likely to overshoot or oscillate.

According to the second embodiment, at step S46 the feedback gain Km ofthe motion vector is decreased before the feedback gain Kc is increased.This can widen the phase margin or gain margin of the vibrationreduction operation. Consequently, overshooting or oscillation of theoptical vibration reduction system 100 can be surely avoided.

(3) When the Camera System 290 is Panning

According to the second embodiment, when the system controlling part 200has determined that the camera system 290 is panning, angular speed datais output as a reference signal. As a result, the cancellation of theangular speed data can stop the feedforward control over the angularspeed. In this case, before the feedforward control is stopped, thefeedback gain of the motion vector is set to zero. Such a step-by-stepoperation can prevent unnecessary movement of the optical vibrationreduction system 100 because the feedback of the motion vector occurswhile the feedforward control is stopped.

In particular, according to the second embodiment, the optical vibrationreduction system 100 is only center-biased with the vibration reductioncontrol stopped. If the motion vector is fed back, the center bias andthe motion vector alternately work on the optical vibration reductionsystem 100, preventing it from returning to its center position or fromhaving it in vibration. However, stopping the feedback of the motionvector in advance can prevent such a problem according to the secondembodiment.

[Supplementary Description of Second Embodiment]

According to the second embodiment, while the system controlling part200 determines whether or not the camera system 290 is fixed by a tripodor the optical vibration reduction system 100 has moved to its limit,the vibration reduction operation may be stopped. In this case, it ispreferable that the feedback gain of the motion signal should be set tozero prior to the start of the feedforward control. Such a preparingoperation can prevent the vibration reduction mechanism fromunnecessarily moving.

Moreover, according to the second embodiment, the motion vector is fedback to the reference signal. However, the present invention is notlimited to such an embodiment. Alternatively, the motion vector may befed back for the target drive position or angular velocity.

Third Embodiment Description of Structure of Third Embodiment

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a camera system (including ashooting lens 390 a).

Next, with reference to FIG. 13, the structure of each part of thecamera system 390 will be described. For simplicity, description ofstructural parts that are in common with the first embodiment (FIG. 1)will be omitted.

The third embodiment features a structure of which a gain changing part200′ is disposed. The gain changing part 200′ adjusts the gain of amotion vector.

Connected to the gain changing part 200′ is a release button 201, afocus detecting part 202 that determines whether or not a subject isfocused, and a panning detecting part 203 that determines whether or notthe camera is panning.

[Relation Between the Claims and the Third Embodiment]

Next, the relation between the terminology used in claims and theterminology used in the third embodiment will be described. It should benoted that the relation represents only an example, but does not limitthe present invention.

A vibration reduction mechanism as set forth in claims corresponds tothe optical vibration reduction system 100.

A vibration detecting part as set forth in claims corresponds to theangular speed sensor 10.

A reference signal generating part as set forth in claims corresponds tothe reference signal calculating part 40, the motion vector convertingpart 170, and the gain changing part 200′.

A target drive position calculating part as set forth in claimscorresponds to the target drive position calculating part 50.

A driving part as set forth in claims corresponds to the drive signalcalculating part 60, the driver 70, the driving mechanism 80, and thepositional sensor 90.

A feedback path as set forth in claims corresponds to the motion vectorconverting part 170, and the “function for feeding back the motionsignal to the reference signal” of the reference signal calculating part40.

A gain changing part as set forth in claims corresponds to the gainchanging part 200′.

A camera system as set forth in claims corresponds to the camera system390.

A motion signal as set forth in claims corresponds to a component in anangular speed direction of a motion vector.

[Control Operation of Optical Vibration Reduction]

FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing an operation of the third embodiment.

Next, with reference to FIG. 14, a control operation of the opticalvibration reduction will be described.

Step S111: When a main switch (not shown) is turned on, the camerasystem 390 starts controlling the vibration reduction. Thereafter, thecamera system 390 causes the flow to advance to step S113.

In contrast, when the main switch is turned off, the camera system 390causes the flow to advance to step S112. At step S112, the camera system390 executes a vibration reduction stop sequence.

Step S112: The camera system 390 executes the stop sequence in thefollowing order so as to stably stop the optical vibration reductionsystem 100 that is operating.(1) stops driving the vibration reduction lens.(2) stops calculating the lens drive signal.(3) stops calculating the target drive position.(4) stops processing the angular speed data.(5) stops updating the motion vector.(6) stops calculating the reference signal.(7) stop energizing the angular speed sensor 10.

After completing the foregoing stop sequence, the camera system 390completes the vibration reduction operation.

Step S113: When the main switch is turned on, the camera system 390starts energizing the angular speed sensor 10.Step S114: The A/D converting part 30 converts an angular speed outputas an analog signal into a digital signal at predetermined samplingintervals. The reference signal calculating part 40 performs a movingaverage processing and a low-pass filter processing on the digitalangular speed data so as to estimate a reference signal Wo of theangular speed data. Alternatively, the reference signal calculating part40 may perform a weighted addition for the reference signal Wo with aprevious signal of a corrected reference signal Wo′ (that will bedescribed later) so as to reflect the past corrected contents to thereference signal Wo.Step S115: The gain changing part 200′ determines whether or not therelease button 201 is half pressed from a contact state of the releasebutton 201 (namely, a half-press contact point of the release button 201is on).

When the release button 201 is not half pressed, the gain changing part200′ does not feed back a motion vector V′ to the reference signal, butcauses the flow to advance to step S117.

In contrast, when the release button 201 is half pressed, the gainchanging part 200′ causes the flow to advance to step S116.

Supposing that in a predetermined period after the half-pressed state iscancelled, the user may half press the release button 201 immediately,it is preferred that the gain changing part 200′ should cause the flowto advance to step S116.

Step S116: When the release button 201 is half pressed, the camerasystem 390 starts a shooting preparation for deciding automatic exposure(AE) and so forth, for example.

After the start of the shooting preparation, the gain changing part 200′starts feeding back the motion vector V′ to the reference signal.

In other words, the gain changing part 200′ obtains information of themotion vector V′ at step S6 (FIG. 3) and subtracts the motion vector V′from the reference signal Wo.

This feedback causes the corrected reference signal Wo′ to be generatedaccording to the following formula.

Wo′=Wo−γ·v′  (22)

where γ represents a feedback gain; v′, a component in an angular speeddirection of motion vector V′ (in the unit of angular speed).Step S117: The target drive position calculating part 50 subtracts thereference signal from the angular speed data that is output from the A/Dconverting part 30 and obtains real angular speed data (corresponding toa vibration component) that is a cause of image vibration.Step S118: The target drive position calculating part 50 integrates thereal angular speed data to obtain a displacement amount of an angle ofthe optical axis of the shooting lens 390 a. The target drive positioncalculating part 50 obtains the position of the optical vibrationreduction system 100 necessary for canceling the displacement of thefocused position of the image of the subject corresponding to thedisplacement amount of the angle of the optical axis (the position ofthe optical vibration reduction system 100 is referred to as targetdrive position).

For example, with the foregoing formulas (3) and (4), the target driveposition calculating part 50 calculates the target drive positionθ(T_(k)).

Step S119: The drive signal calculating part 60 obtains information ofthe target drive position from the target drive position calculatingpart 50 and controls the optical vibration reduction system 100 so as tofollow up the target drive position.Step S120: The camera system 390 determines whether or not the releasebutton 201 is fully pressed (both the half-press and fully-press contactpoints of the release button 201 are on).

When the release button 201 is not fully pressed, the camera system 390causes the flow to return to step S114.

In contrast, when the release button 201 is fully pressed, the camerasystem 390 causes the flow to advance to step S121.

Step S121: When the release button 201 is fully pressed, the camerasystem 390 starts a shooting operation. After the camera system 390starts the shooting operation, the camera system 390 causes the flow toreturn to step S114. As a result, while performing the shootingoperation, the camera system 390 continuously performs the vibrationreduction.

[Effect and so Forth of Third Embodiment]

According to the third embodiment, when the release button 201 is halfpressed, it is determined that the shooting preparation should start andthe motion vector V′ should be fed back to the reference signal.

Generally, in the half-pressed state the user stands by for a goodshooting timing, so that it is not likely that the user intentionally ismoving the camera. Consequently, feeding back the motion vector V′ tothe reference signal immediately after the release button 201 is halfpressed can greatly prevent occurrence of undesired events that theuser's intentional panning erroneously affects the reference signal.

Thus, before the release button 201 is half pressed, even if the usergreatly moves the camera to decide a composition of an image to be shot,the reference signal can be estimated without an error. This preventsoccurrence of such troubles that the motion of an image unnaturallystops and vibration reduction becomes unstable at worst.

In this embodiment, timing at which the shooting preparation starts isdetected when the release button is half pressed. However, the presentinvention is not limited to this operation. For example, if the camerahas a self timer function, the shooting preparation may be started whenthe self timer starts. Generally, after the self timer starts, the userwill not move the camera. Thus, feeding back the motion vector V′ is tothe reference signal after the start of the self timer can preventoccurrence of undesired events that the user's intentional panningerroneously affects the reference signal.

In this embodiment, the motion vector is fed back in synchronizationwith the startup of the shooting preparation. However, the presentinvention is not limited thereto. For example, the gain changing part200′ may increase the feedback gain to increase the feedback instead ofstarting the feedback of the motion vector. In this case, it is possibleto finely set or change the sensitivity to correct the reference signalbefore and after the start of the shooting preparation.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.

Fourth Embodiment

Since the structure of an apparatus of the fourth embodiment is the sameas that of the third embodiment (FIG. 13), the description will beomitted.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing optical vibration reduction according tothe fourth embodiment. The fourth embodiment features a structure ofwhich step S115 of the third embodiment (FIG. 14) is replaced with stepS131 shown in FIG. 15.

At step S131, a gain changing part 200′ obtains a result of whether ornot a subject is focused from a focus detecting part 202.

For example, according to a known contrast climbing method the focusdetecting part 202 determines that a subject is into focus when thecontrast of a monitored image is close to its peak.

According to a known phase difference detecting method, the focusdetecting part 202 determines that a subject is into focus, when thedefocus amount is in a permissible range.

When by these methods the focus detecting part 202 determines that thesubject is not focused, the gain changing part 200′ does not feed backthe motion vector V′ to the reference signal, but causes the flow toadvance to step S117.

In contrast, when the subject is focused, the gain changing part 200′causes the flow to advance to step S116.

Thus, with the operation of the fourth embodiment, even if the usergreatly moves the camera to decide a composition of an image to be shot,it is able to surely prevent occurrence of such troubles that thereference signal is erroneously corrected.

In addition, since a motion vector is obtained with a clearly focusedimage, the motion vector is detected with higher accuracy. As a result,the reference signal can be corrected more accurately.

It can be supposed that immediately after a subject is focused, the usermay adjust a composition of an image to be shot. Thus, it is preferredthat the feedback of the motion vector V′ should be started after apredetermined period has elapsed after the subject is focused (namely,after an estimated period for which a composition of an image to be shotis adjusted).

According to this embodiment, the feedback of the motion vector isstarted in accordance with the determined result of the focused state.However, the present invention is not limited to this operation.Alternatively, the gain changing part 200′ may increase the feedbackgain to increase the feedback instead of starting the feedback of themotion vector. In this case, before and after the subject is focused,the sensitivity of the correction of the reference signal can be finelyset and changed.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.

Fifth Embodiment

Since the structure of an apparatus of the fifth embodiment is the sameas that of the third embodiment (FIG. 13), the description will beomitted.

FIG. 16 is a flow chart showing optical vibration reduction according tothe fifth embodiment of the present invention. The fifth embodimentfeatures a structure of which step S115 of the third embodiment (FIG.14) is replaced with steps S141 and S142 shown in FIG. 16.

At step S141, a panning detecting part 203 detects panning of a camerasystem 390 according to an output of an angular speed sensor 10 and/or amotion vector V′. When the panning detecting part 203 has successivelydetected a motion in the same direction according to the output of theangular speed sensor 10 and/or the motion vector V′, the panningdetecting part 203 determines that the camera system 390 should bepanning.

Thereafter, at step S142, the gain changing part 200′ decides anoperation to perform based on a state of the panning.

In other words, when the camera system 390 is panning in the directionof the vibration reduction, the gain changing part 200′ does not feedback the motion vector V′ to the reference signal, but causes the flowto advance to step S117.

In contrast, when panning of the camera system 390 in the direction ofthe vibration reduction has been completed, the gain changing part 200′causes the flow to advance to step S116.

The operation of the fifth embodiment prevents the motion signal frombeing fed back to the reference signal while the camera system 390 ispanning. As a result, it is possible to prevent occurrence of suchtroubles that the reference signal is erroneously corrected.

This can consequently prevent occurrence of undesired events withsureness such that the motion of an image stops while the camera system390 is panning and so forth.

According to this embodiment, the feedback of the motion vector isstarted upon completion of the panning. However, the present inventionis not limited to this operation. Alternatively, the gain changing part200′ may increase the feedback gain to increase the feedback instead ofstarting the feedback of the motion vector. In this case, before andafter completion of the panning, the sensitivity of the correction ofthe reference signal can be finely set and changed.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.

Sixth Embodiment

Since the structure of an apparatus of the sixth embodiment is the sameas that of the third embodiment (FIG. 13), the description will beomitted.

FIG. 17 is a flow chart showing optical vibration reduction according tothe sixth embodiment. The sixth embodiment features a structure of whichstep S115 (FIG. 14) of the third embodiment is replaced with steps S151to S153 shown in FIG. 17.

Next, the featured points of the sixth embodiment of the presentinvention will be described.

Step S151: A gain changing part 200′ determines whether or not a releasebutton 201 is half pressed from a contact state of the release button201.

When the release button 201 is not half pressed, the gain changing part200′ does not feed back the motion vector V′ to the reference signal,but causes the flow to advance to step S117.

In contrast, when the release button 201 is half pressed, the gainchanging part 200′ causes the flow to advance to step S152. In apredetermined period after the half-pressed state is cancelled, since itis supposed that the user may half press the release button 201, it ispreferred that the gain changing part 200′ should cause the flow toadvance to step S152.

Step S152: The gain changing part 200′ determines whether or not thecamera system 390 is performing a panning shooting operation.Specifically, when the release button 201 is half pressed and the camerasystem 390 is panning in the direction of the vibration reduction at thesame time, the gain changing part 200′ determines that the user ispreparing for the panning shooting before fully pressing the releasebutton.Step S153: When determining that the camera system 390 is the panningshooting operation, the gain changing part 200′ does not feed back themotion vector V′ to the reference signal, but causes the flow to advanceto step S117.

In contrast, when determining that the camera system 390 is notperforming the panning shooting operation, the gain changing part 200′causes the flow to advance to step S116.

The operation of the sixth embodiment prevents the motion signal frombeing fed back to the reference signal even if the release button ishalf pressed. This results in preventing with sureness occurrence ofundesired events that the reference signal is erroneously corrected.

Consequently, it is possible to prevent with sureness occurrence of suchtroubles that the motion of an image stops while the camera system isperforming panning shooting operation.

In this embodiment, the feedback of the motion vector is started (orstopped). However, the present invention is not limited to such anoperation. Alternatively, the feedback gain may be increased (decreased)rather than starting (stopping) the feedback of the motion vector. Inthis operation, when the panning shooting operation is tested, thesensitivity of the correction of the reference signal can be finely set(for example, properly decreased).

<<Supplemental Description of Embodiments>>

In the foregoing embodiment, a motion vector is generated in accordancewith a captured image of the image sensor. However, the presentinvention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, aphotoelectric conversion may be performed by a multiple-divisionphotometry mechanism, a focal point detecting mechanism, a colormeasuring mechanism, a finder mechanism, or the like so as to generate acaptured image. The generation of a motion vector from the capturedimage makes the present applicable to a silver salt type camera or asingle lens reflex electronic camera.

If the camera is capable of continuous shooting of two to eight framesper second, a motion signal is obtainable. Accordingly, the presentinvention is applicable to a camera that can perform a vibrationreduction operation while shooting continuously.

Moreover, according to the foregoing embodiments, the shooting lens andthe camera system may be integrally structured. Alternatively, theshooting lens and the camera system may be detachably structured. If theshooting lens and the camera system are detachably structured, the blockthat generates the motion signal may be disposed in either the shootinglens or the camera system. For example, it may be structured that theblock that generates the motion signal may be disposed in the camerasystem while the block that converts a scale of the motion signal into ascale of the reference signal may be disposed in the shooting lens.

According to the foregoing embodiments, an angular speed is measured asa vibration detection signal. However, the present invention is notlimited thereto. Instead, a vibration component may be detected forestimating displacement of a focal position of a subject image. Forexample, acceleration, angular acceleration, centrifugal force, inertiaforce, or the like acting on the camera system may be detected as avibration detection signal.

In addition, according to the foregoing embodiments, the image vibrationis reduced by moving the optical vibration reduction system. However,the vibration reduction mechanism according to the present invention isnot limited to such a configuration. Instead, the image vibrationreduction is achievable by moving an image sensor or electronicallychanging the trimming position of a captured image.

In the foregoing embodiments, the start of the shooting preparation isdetermined from half-press to the release button. However, the presentinvention is not limited to such an operation. Generally, timing atwhich shooting preparation starts may be timing at which a shootingpreparation for a still image starts. For example, in a period of whichis shot is collected, it can be determined that the shooting preparationhas started, from preparatory operations such as collection of a varioustypes of information (photometric values or the like) for shooting astill picture. In the foregoing embodiments, the panning of the camerasystem in the direction of the vibration reduction is determined. Inthis case, when the camera system is panning in a direction other thanthe vibration reduction direction, the motion vector is always fed back.As a result, when the camera system 390 is panning in the horizontaldirection of the screen, the reference signal in the vertical directionof the screen can be corrected. Consequently, it is possible to properlysuppress the vibration in the vertical direction different from thevibration due to the panning. However, the present invention is notlimited to such an operation. For example, with detection of panning ina direction different from the direction of the vibration reduction, thefeedback of the motion vector can be properly restricted.

It is preferred that panning should be determined by detecting themotion signal while the driving of the vibration reduction of thevibration reducing mechanism is temporarily stopped (or restricted). Inthis case, since the motion signal is not affected by the vibrationreduction, panning can be accurately and securely detected with themotion signal.

The invention is not limited to the above embodiments and variousmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention. Any improvement may be made in part or all of thecomponents.

1. A shooting lens for forming an image of a subject on an imaging planeof a camera, the shooting lens comprising: a vibration reductionmechanism which reduces a vibration of the image of the subject; avibration detecting part which detects a vibration of the camera andoutputs a vibration detection signal; a reference signal generating partwhich estimates a reference signal of the vibration detection part inaccordance with the vibration detection signal, the estimated referencesignal varying due to an external disturbance and representing an outputof the vibration detecting part while the camera is in a stationarystate and free of vibration; a target drive position calculating partwhich obtains a vibration component from a difference between thevibration detection signal and the estimated reference signal, andobtains, in accordance with the vibration component, a target positionto which the vibration reduction mechanism is driven, the vibrationcomponent causing the vibration of the image; a position detecting partwhich detects a position of the vibration reduction mechanism; and adriving part which controls the vibration reduction mechanism to followthe target position in accordance with a difference between the positiondetected by the position detecting part and the target position, whereinthe reference signal generating part acquires information on a motionsignal obtained by analyzing an image shot with the camera, to correctthe estimated reference signal in accordance with the motion signal. 2.The shooting lens as set forth in claim 1, wherein the reference signalgenerating part corrects the estimated reference signal to contain adrift output of the vibration detecting part by feeding back the motionsignal to the estimated reference signal.
 3. The shooting lens as setforth in claim 1, wherein the reference signal generating part convertsa scale of the motion signal into a scale of the estimated referencesignal in accordance with a focal distance and a magnification of theshooting lens and corrects the estimated reference signal in accordancewith the motion signal of the converted scale.
 4. The shooting lens asset forth in claim 1, wherein: the reference signal generating partupdates the estimated reference signal to a corrected reference signal;the target drive position calculating part updates the target position;and a cycle in which the reference signal generating part updates theestimated reference signal is longer than a cycle in which the targetdrive position calculating part updates the target position.
 5. Theshooting lens as set forth in claim 1, further comprising: a phasecompensating part which performs lead compensation for a phase of themotion signal, wherein the reference signal generating part corrects theestimated reference signal according to the phase-compensated motionsignal.
 6. The shooting lens as set forth in claim 1, wherein thereference signal generating part includes: a feedback path for acquiringinformation on a motion signal obtained by analyzing an image shot withthe camera and feeding back the estimated reference signal to the motionsignal, to correct the estimated reference signal; and a gain changingpart which obtains, from the camera, information on a timing when thecamera is to start a shooting preparation for a still image, and startsor increases feedback of the feedback path after a start of the shootingpreparation.
 7. The shooting lens as set forth in claim 1, wherein thereference signal generating part includes: a feedback path for acquiringinformation on a motion signal obtained by analyzing an image shot withthe camera and feeding back the motion signal to the estimated referencesignal, to correct the estimated reference signal; and a gain changingpart which obtains, from the camera, information on a timing when thecamera is to focus the image of the subject and starts or increasesfeedback of the feedback path after the camera has focused the image ofthe subject.
 8. The shooting lens as set forth in claim 1, wherein thereference signal generating part includes: a feedback path for acquiringinformation on a motion signal obtained by analyzing an image shot withthe camera and feeding back the motion signal to the estimated referencesignal, to correct the estimated reference signal; and a gain changingpart which detects panning of the camera according to the vibrationdetection signal and/or the motion signal and starts or increasesfeedback of the feedback path after a completion of the panning.
 9. Theshooting lens as set forth in claim 1, wherein the reference signalgenerating part includes: a feedback path for acquiring information on amotion signal obtained by analyzing an image shot with the camera andfeeding back the motion signal to the estimated reference signal, tocorrect the estimated reference signal; and a gain changing part whichobtains, from the camera, information on a timing when the camera is tostart a shooting preparation for a still picture, and, after a start ofthe shooting preparation, stops or decreases feedback of the feedbackpath when detecting panning of the camera according to the vibrationdetection signal and/or the motion signal.
 10. A shooting lens forforming an image of a subject on an imaging plane of a camera, theshooting lens comprising: a vibration reduction mechanism for reducing avibration of the image of the subject; a vibration detecting part whichdetects a vibration of the camera and outputs a vibration detectionsignal; an information obtaining part which acquires information on amotion signal obtained by analyzing an image shot with the camera; and acontrolling part which controls, using the vibration detection signal,the vibration reduction mechanism to perform feedforward operation andcontrols, using the motion signal, the vibration reduction mechanism toperform feedback operation, thereby reducing the image vibration; and acenter bias part which biases the vibration reduction mechanism to acenter position by feeding back displacement of the vibration reductionmechanism from the center position to the control over the vibrationreduction mechanism; and wherein the controlling part decreases afeedback gain of the motion signal as a feedback gain of the center biaspart increases, and increases the feedback gain of the motion signal asthe feedback gain of the center bias part decreases.
 11. The shootinglens as set forth in claim 10, further comprising: a sensor which sensesinformation on at least one of states of the camera which are a statethat the camera is fixed by a tripod and a state that the vibrationreduction mechanism has moved to its limit, wherein; the center biaspart increases the feedback gain of the center bias part in accordancewith the sensed information on the state of the camera; and thecontrolling part decreases the feedback gain of the motion signal inaccordance with the sensed information on the state of the camera.
 12. Ashooting lens for forming an image of a subject on an imaging plane of acamera, the shooting lens comprising: a vibration reduction mechanismfor reducing a vibration of the image of the subject; a vibrationdetecting part which detects a vibration of the camera and outputs avibration detection signal; an information obtaining part which acquiresinformation on a motion signal obtained by analyzing an image shot withthe camera; and a controlling part which controls, using the vibrationdetection signal, the vibration reduction mechanism to performfeedforward operation and controls, using the motion signal, thevibration reduction mechanism to perform feedback operation, therebyreducing the image vibration, wherein for stopping the vibrationreduction by the vibration reduction mechanism, the controlling partcontrols the vibration reduction mechanism to stop the feedbackoperation before stopping the feedforward operation.
 13. The shootinglens as set forth in claim 12, further comprising: a sensor which sensesinformation on at least one of states of the camera which are a statethat the camera is fixed by a tripod, a state that the camera ispanning, and a state that the vibration reduction mechanism has moved toits limit, wherein the controlling part stops the feedback operationfirst according to the sensed information on the state of the camera andthen stops the feedforward operation.
 14. The shooting lens as set forthin claim 10, wherein the controlling part comprises: a reference signalestimating part which estimates a reference signal of the vibrationdetection signal in accordance with the vibration detection signal, thereference signal representing an output of the vibration detecting partwhile the camera is in a stationary state and free of a vibration; areference signal correcting part which corrects the reference signal byfeeding back the motion signal to the reference signal estimated by thereference signal estimating part; a target drive position calculatingpart which obtains a vibration component from a difference between thevibration detection signal and the corrected reference signal, andobtains, in accordance with the vibration component, a target positionto which the vibration reduction mechanism is driven, the vibrationcomponent causing the vibration of the image, the vibration mechanismreducing the image vibration according to the vibration component; and adriving part which controls the vibration reduction mechanism to followthe target position.
 15. The shooting lens as set forth in claim 12,wherein the controlling part comprises: a reference signal estimatingpart which estimates a reference signal of the vibration detectionsignal in accordance with the vibration detection signal, the referencesignal representing an output of the vibration detecting part while thecamera is in a stationary state and free of a vibration; a referencesignal correcting part which corrects the reference signal by feedingback the motion signal to the reference signal estimated by thereference signal estimating part; a target drive position calculatingpart which obtains a vibration component from a difference between thevibration detection signal and the corrected reference signal, andobtains, in accordance with the vibration component, a target positionto which the vibration reduction mechanism is driven, the vibrationcomponent causing the vibration of the image, the vibration mechanismreducing the image vibration according to the vibration component; and adriving part which controls the vibration reduction mechanism to followthe target position.
 16. A camera system, comprising: the shooting lensas set forth in claim 1; an imaging part which captures an image of asubject formed by the shooting lens on an imaging plane; and a motiondetecting part which obtains a captured image from the imaging part,finds variation with time in the captured image, and outputs a motion ofthe subject image on the imaging plane as a motion signal.
 17. A camerasystem, comprising: the shooting lens as set forth in claim 10; animaging part which captures an image of a subject formed by the shootinglens on an imaging plane; and a motion detecting part which obtains acaptured image from the imaging part, finds variation with time in thecaptured image, and outputs a motion of the subject image on the imagingplane as a motion signal.
 18. A camera system, comprising: the shootinglens as set forth in claim 12; an imaging part which captures an imageof a subject formed by the shooting lens on an imaging plane; and amotion detecting part which obtains a captured image from the imagingpart, finds variation with time in the captured image, and outputs amotion of the subject image on the imaging plane as a motion signal.